Jail To Add 8 Full-time Guards As Inmate Population Grows

February 03, 1999|By Amanda Vogt.

LAKE COUNTY — County officials have approved the hiring of eight new full-time jail guards in response to administrators' pleas that a rising inmate population at County Jail was prompting staffing problems.

The county's Law and Judicial Committee on Monday approved the hiring of the guards, six to staff a newly-opened housing unit and two to help escort prisoners to hearings at the county courthouse, according to Lawrence Lesza, director of corrections.

"Last September, the growing adult population forced us to open a 40-bed housing unit that required staffing by six full-time officers," said Lesza. "The committee asked us to wait six months to see if the population declined. It didn't, so the new hires were approved."

From 1997 to 1998, the average daily adult population in County Jail increased from 463 to 538 inmates. The average population for the first 23 days of 1999 was 548 inmates.

For the past two years, Lesza said, those numbers translated into substantial costs.

If approved by the county's Finance Committee next month, the first 3 to 4 officers will be hired immediately from a list of candidates who have already qualified for the job, said Lesza.